SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 170 - Mar/21/23

Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC)

Mar/21/23 2:23:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, data out today shows that food prices are exploding. Anyone who has been to a grocery store already knew it, but what is the Prime Minister's solution? He wants to raise taxes on the farmers who produce our food and the truckers who ship it, which means more expensive groceries at the grocery store. It is part of his plan to triple the tax on heat, gas and groceries. The Prime Minister loves to jet around at other people's expense, burning fossil fuels. Will he show some decency and some compassion for the people he has harmed and cancel the April 1 tax hike?

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Context: House Hansard - 170 - Mar/21/23

Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC)

Mar/21/23 2:24:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, $185 will not even cover a week's groceries for the average family after food prices have exploded under the Prime Minister. If he thinks our farmers are doing such a great job fighting climate change, as I do, then why does he have to tax them again with a big tax hike on April 1? It is worse; it is not just food he is taxing. He wants to increase home heating costs and gas prices, a full 14¢ a-litre tax, a tax that he wants to triple. Will the Prime Minister cancel his planned April 1 tax hike so that Canadians can afford to eat and to heat and house themselves?

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Context: House Hansard - 170 - Mar/21/23

Mr. Daniel Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP)

Mar/21/23 2:50:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, now that the New Democrats have forced an end to the government filibuster at committee and secured the testimony of the Prime Minister's chief of staff, I think we owe it to Canadians to make a little more time in this place to talk about the issues affecting them in the pocketbook, like grocery prices, for instance. Even as inflation begins to slow, grocery prices continue to rise at an outpaced rate, and grocery companies are walking away with all of that in profit while Canadians are cash-strapped. The solution is to impose a windfall tax on grocery companies that are overcharging Canadians for their groceries as a clear signal that they will not get to walk away with that money and that the money will be reinvested in Canadians who are staring down the barrel of a recession.

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Context: House Hansard - 170 - Mar/21/23

Mr. Michael Barrett (Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, CPC)

Mar/21/23 7:10:13 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise this evening to talk about the struggles that Canadians are facing with affordability. We know that to be able to afford to feed their families, heat their homes and put gas in the car to get to work, Canadians need to have a job. We start out at a point where, after eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, four in 10 Canadians are actively afraid they are going to lose their job, and 50% of Canadians are on the brink of insolvency. After eight years of the Prime Minister, the average price of groceries for a family is up around 15% on a week-by-week basis. Canadians are spending thousands more on groceries this year than they did last year. After eight years of the Prime Minister, there is no relief in sight. When Canadians look down the road and look at what is to come on the calendar, they see tax increases: tax increases on April 1, and more tax increases when the Liberals plan to triple their carbon tax on everything. In my office, I regularly receive a particular type of correspondence from Canadians. Actually, at church two Sundays ago, Chuck wanted to share with me his natural gas bill. I just cannot believe the tax that he is paying on top of the tax that he is paying. He is wondering if it is legal that the government is charging tax on tax. What everyone is wondering, when they are looking at these bills that they are sending to my office, asking what we can do to help them, is how they are going to be able to get through another year. We have presented the government with several options it could choose from that would help make life more affordable for Canadians. Scrapping the carbon tax on everything is the first and best way for the government to have a positive impact on the affordability crisis that is facing Canadians. The price of homes has doubled under the government. The Liberals will say that no one has spent more, but no one has spent more to achieve less than the Liberal government has. It is a devastating picture when we look at the impact of the policies of the Liberal government. The prescription is clear: The government could cap new spending and it could cut taxes, starting with scrapping the carbon tax. That is what we are asking. That is what we are asking the government to do, and it is what Canadians are asking of it. Canadians need a break. It is time to bring those savings, that relief, that affordability home for Canadians. That is what Canada's Conservatives are offering, and that is the bare minimum that we expect from the Liberal government. With that, I think my time has expired. I look forward to the response from the government.

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